Card table



F. s. LAPEYRE 2,148,823

' CARD TABLE Feb. ,28, 1939.

Filed Nbv. 11, 1937 17 9.5; 5 724 3nvntor E15: zayajyfie i Jar 7 I (lttbrnegs,

Patented Feb. 28, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in a card table.

An object of the invention is to provide means for simplifying the opening and closing of the legs of a. folding table.

Another object is to interconnect the legs in pairs so that a pair of legs may be opened by handling only one thereof.

A further object is to dispose the legs so that the-opening of one pair starts the opening movementof the other pair.

, The present invention concerns itself with the leg structure of the card table. The ordinary table in use has the four legs pivoted independently and swinging in four different directions. It is necessary in such a table to rotate the whole table a number of times before the legs can be reached and folded. This invention is designed as an improvement on the structure disclosed in my Patent No. 2,033,528. The present structure is simpler and cheaper than that shown in said patent.

A table according to the present invention has its four legs disposed in two opposed pairs. The legs of each of the pairs are interconnected so that itis only necessary to manipulate one leg of each pair to open or close the table. The two pairs of legs fold towards one another so that the whole device can be manipulatedwithout turning the table around.

With the foregoing and other objects in view,

the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawing, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a card table made according to the present invention wherein a portion of the playing surface of the table is broken away.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section the same as Figure 2 but showing the legs broken away and in fully opened position.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1 showing a leg in partly opened position, and

Figure 5 is a section similar to Figure 4 showing the leg in fully opened position.

Referring now particularly to the drawing, Figure 1 shows a card table composed of front and rear rails III, II and side rails I2 and I3. These four rails are joined together to form a closed rectangular frame. Secured to the top edges of the four rails is a playing board I4 which may be of any desired type. At diagonally opposed positions on the rails Ill and II spacing blocks I5 and I6 are secured. Journalled at one side in the spacing block I5 and at the opposite side in the rail I I is a bar I'l. Similarly a bar I8 is journalled in the rail I 0 and in the spacing block I6. These bars are disposed adjacent the side rails I2 and I3 and are designed for the purpose of holding the legs I9 of the card table. The legs are secured against a flat side of the bars near the ends thereof. Due to the presence of the spacing blocks I5 and I6 the bars I1 and I8 are laterally offset to some extent and the legs I9 secured to the bars near their ends are therefore disposed in offset relation whereby the pairs of legs secured to the bars may be folded towards each other and will pass freely to closed position. Each of the legs I9 is provided with a diagonal brace 20 which extends from a position part way down the leg to the bar at a position spaced from the point of attachment of the leg. These braces give rigidity to the supporting structure for the table.

Another function of these braces in this position is that one brace 20 of each pair of legs underlies one of the legs of the opposite pair in closed position. This is the result of the offset relation of the legs. Each pair of legs has one of its component members lying against one of the rails II) or I I and this disposes the brace 20 for that outside leg beneath the adjacent leg of the opposite pair. Therefore, when the outside leg is swung towards open position the opposite pair will be partially lifted by the brace 20.

3, As shown in Figures 2 to 5 each of the legs I9 has. a locking toggle extending between it and a portion of the frame or block. The toggles are composed of a lower arm 2| and an upper arm 22. Near the pivot 23 of the two arms each of the toggles has spring locking means such as the engaging tongues 24 for limiting the movement of the toggle and the engaging buttons 25 for holding the toggle in its straight position.

Figure 1 shows that the upper arms 22 of the four toggles are secured to shafts 26. There is one shaft 26 for each pair of legs and the upper arms 22 of the toggles for the respective legs of the pair are secured fast about one of the shafts 26 which is itself journalled in one of the rails of the frame and in a spacing block.

It will now be apparent that the legs I9 may be moved from the closed position, shown in Figure 1, to the fully opened position, shown in Figures 3 and 5, by manipulation of only one leg the same.

of each pair. Thus, the leg lying against the rail I I may be swung manually towards open position. The bar I! will transmit this swinging to the opposite leg of the pair which will consequently move towards open position, At the same time, the lower arm 2| of the toggles attached to the two legs of the pair in question will be pulled rotating the upper arm 22 and consequently turning the shaft 26 to which it is attached. This rotation of the shaft 26 is transmitted to the upper arm 22 of the toggle of the opposite leg and it is forced towards open position. The

opening force is therefore distributed and no excessive stress is thrown on any of the parts. The attachment of the leg E9 to the bar I! is rein-- forced by means of the brace 20 so that the stress is not thrown entirely on the point of attachment of the leg to the bar. The interconnection between the upper arms of the toggle through the shaft 26 also serves as a means for transmitting the opening force.

It will be seen from Figure 1 that when the pair of legs just discussed is swung to open position the brace 20 of the leg lying against the rail II will move the leg of the opposite pair which lies against it. This lifting will result in a movement of the opposite pair of legs to partially open position where one of them may be more easily grasped for the purpose of fully opening that pair of legs.

As shown in Figure 2, the frame of the table is made to contain the whole supporting structure. The legs 19 are offset as described. The spacing blocks l5 and I6 are substantially the thickness of the bars I! and IS in closed position so that the four legs lie flush when the table is closed. The outside leg of each pair rests against the underside of one of. the spacing blocks and the inside leg of each pair rests against the outer side of one of the bars H or IE and also against the outer side of one of the braces 20 of an outside leg as described.

When the table is in open position the toggles will be in the straight line arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 5. To close the table pressure is exerted on the pivot 23 of the toggle to break As theparticular toggle breaks its upper arm 22 rotates and this rotation is transmitted through a shaft 26 to the upper arm 22 of the connected toggle thus breaking it also.

The closing of the table may therefore be accomplished by turning the table down on one of the rails ID or II and then breaking the toggles of each of the legs lying against the uppermost rail.

The opening of the table may be performed in the same manner.

The structure set out above is extremely simple and economical of construction. As shown, the parts are made of wood. with the exception of the braces 20, the toggles and the shafts 26. It is to be understood, however, that it is not critical of the invention to form the various parts of any particular material. The stresses of the supporting structure for the card table are well distributed among the four legs. The legs are mounted on sturdy bars instead of being separately pivoted as is customary in most tables. A'result of this is that the legs are far less likely to become loose and unsteady.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A card table comprising a rectangular frame, a playing board carried by the upper side of said frame, four legs for supporting the frame, two bars one secured to the upper ends of each two of said legs to dispose them in coupled pairs, a shaft for each pair of legs, a toggle connection for each leg having an upper arm rigidly connected to the shaft forthe respective pair of legs and a lowerarm pivotally connected to the respective leg, two blocks secured one at each side of the frame in diagonally opposed positions, said blocks having sockets to receive the adjacent ends of the bars and shafts for free rotation therein, the opposite ends of said-bars and shafts being journalled in sockets in the frame, and a diagonal brace between each leg and the bar secured thereto, said blocks spacing the bars and legs in offset relation whereby the pairs are foldable towards each other and whereby the brace of one leg of each pair underlies a leg of the opposite pair in folded position so that the opening of one pair of legs produces a partial opening of the opposite pair to facilitate grasping a leg to open the latter pair completely.

2. A card table as in claim 1 wherein the said block is short relative to the side of the frame and the respective bars and shafts are located close together to'dispose the pairs of legs as complete and separate units at opposite ends of the table.

FERNAND S. LAPEYRE. 

